Interview
with Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks, the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement," visited the Scholastic website in January and February 1997 to answer questions from students.

During this monthlong project, students learned how Mrs. Parks sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott by not giving up her bus seat to a white passenger in 1955. And how, as a result of that brave act, in 1956 the Supreme Court ruled segregation on buses was illegal.

I
always felt badly because our people were not treated fairly. We should
have been free and given the same opportunities others had.

How
did it feel not to have civil rights?

Of course it felt
like we should all be free people and we should have the same rights as
other people. In the South, at that time, there was legally enforced segregation.
There were places black people couldn't go, and rights we did not have.
This was not acceptable to me. A lot of other people didn't disobey the
rules because they didn't want to get into trouble. I was willing to get
arrested  it was worth the consequences.

When
you were little, did you understand that black people weren't treated
fairly?

When
I was a young child I couldn't understand why black people weren't treated
fairly. But when I did learn about it, I didn't feel very good about it.

How
do you feel about the people who treated you so unfairly?

I
don't think well of people who are prejudiced against people because of
race. The only way for prejudiced people to change is for them to decide
for themselves that all human beings should be treated fairly. We can't
force them to think that way.

Were
you allowed to learn to read when you were little?

Well,
yes. I was born 50 years after slavery, in 1913. I was allowed to read.
My mother, who was a teacher, taught me when I was a very young child.

The
first school I attended was a small building that went from first to sixth
grade. There was one teacher for all of the students. There could be anywhere
from 50 to 60 students of all different ages. From 5 or 6 years old to
in their teens. We went to school five months out of the year. The rest
of the time young people would be available to work on the farm. The parents
had to buy whatever the student used. Often, if your family couldn't afford
it, you had no access to books, pencils, whatever. However, often the
children would share. I liked to read all sorts of stories, like fairy
tales  Little Red Riding Hood, Mother Goose. I read very often.

What made you
decide on December 1, 1955, not to get up from your seat?

That particular day
that I decided was not the first time I had trouble with that particular
driver. He evicted me before, because I would not go around to the back
door after I was already onto the bus. The evening that I boarded the
bus, and noticed that he was the same driver, I decided to get on anyway.
I did not sit at the very front of the bus; I took a seat with a man who
was next to the window -- the first seat that was allowed for "colored"
people to sit in. We were not disturbed until we reached the third stop
after I boarded the bus. At this point a few white people boarded the
bus, and one white man was left standing. When the driver noticed him
standing, he spoke to us (the man and two women across the aisle) and
told us to let the man have the seat. The other three all stood up. But
the driver saw me still sitting there. He said would I stand up, and I
said, "No, I will not." Then he said, "I'll have you arrested." And I
told him he could do that. So he didn't move the bus any further. Several
black people left the bus.

Two policemen got
on the bus in a couple of minutes. The driver told the police that I would
not stand up. The policeman walked down and asked me why I didn't stand
up, and I said I didn't think I should stand up. "Why do you push us around?"
I asked him. And he said, "I don't know. But the law is the law and you
are under arrest." As soon as he said that I stood up, the three of us
left the bus together.

One of them picked
up my purse, the other picked up my shopping bag. And we left the bus
together. It was the first time I'd had that particular thing happen.
I was determined that I let it be known that I did not want to be treated
in this manner. The policemen had their squad car waiting, they gave me
my purse and bag, and they opened the back door of the police car for
me to enter.

Did
you think your actions would have such a far-reaching effect on the Civil
Rights movement?

I
didn't have any idea just what my actions would bring about. At the time
I was arrested I didn't know how the community would react. I was glad
that they did take the action that they did by staying off the bus.

What
was it like walking all those miles when the bus boycott was going on?

We
were fortunate enough to have a carpool organized to pick people up and
give them rides. Of course, many people walked and sometimes I did too.
I was willing to walk rather than go back to the buses under those unfair
conditions.

Very
shortly after the boycott began, I was dismissed from my job as a seamstress
at a department store. I worked at home doing sewing and typing. I don't
know why I was dismissed from the job, but I think it was because I was
arrested.

What
did your family think about what happened?

After
I was in jail I had the opportunity to call home and speak to my mother.
The first thing she asked me was if they had attacked me, beat me. That's
what they used to do to people. I said no, that I hadn't been hurt, but
I was in jail. She gave the phone to my husband and he said he would be
there shortly and would get me out of jail.

There
was a man who had come to my house who knew I had been arrested. He told
my husband he'd give him a ride to the jail. Meantime, Mr. E.D. Nixon,
one of the leaders of the NAACP, had heard about my being arrested from
a friend of mine. He called to see if I was at the jail. The people at
the jail wouldn't tell him I was there. So Mr. Nixon got in touch with
a white lawyer named Clifford Durr. Mr. Durr called the jail, and they
told him that I was there. Mr. Nixon had to pick up Mr. Durr before he
could come get me. Mr. Durr's wife insisted on going too, because she
and I were good friends. Mr. Nixon helped release me from jail.

Were
you scared to do such a brave thing?

No, actually I had
no fear at that particular time. I was very determined to let it be known
how it felt to be treated in that manner  discriminated against.
I was thinking mostly about how inconvenienced I was  stopping me
from going home and doing my work  something I had not expected.
When I did realize, I faced it, and it was quite a challenge to be arrested.
I did not really know what would happen. I didn't feel especially frightened.
I felt more annoyed than frightened.

Did you know that
you were going to jail if you didn't give up your seat?

Well, I knew I was
going to jail when the driver said he was going to have me arrested. I
didn't feel good about going to jail, but I was willing to go to let it
be known that under this type of segregation, black people had endured
too much for too long.

How did you feel
when you were asked to give up your seat?

I didn't feel very
good about being told to stand up and not have a seat. I felt I had a
right to stay where I was. That was why I told the driver I was not going
to stand. I believed that he would arrest me. I did it because I wanted
this particular driver to know that we were being treated unfairly as
individuals and as a people.

What
were your feelings when you were able to sit in the front of the bus for
the first time?

I was glad that the type of treatment  legally enforced segregation
 on the buses was over...had come to an end. It was something rather
special. However, when I knew the boycott was over, and that we didn't
have to be mistreated on the bus anymore, that was a much better feeling
than I had when we were being mistreated.

How
do you feel about being called the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement"?

I
accept the title quite well. I appreciate the fact that people feel that
way about me. I don't know who started calling me that.

I
always encourage children to stay in school, get good grades, and to believe
in themselves. Of course they should take care of their health and keep
themselves from certain things that would be detrimental to them either
physically or mentally. They should be sure to get the best education
that they can and choose careers that they can be progressive in as they
go into their adulthood. In our Pathways to Freedom Institute and our
Institute for Self Development, we take young people on trips and give
them opportunities to meet many civil rights leaders. We teach them to
be good citizens and do what they can do to help other people as they
become successful themselves. I urge children to have a spiritual awareness
in their lives. If children work towards a positive goal in life, it will
help them be successful when they become adults.

What
do you think still needs to be done in regards to civil rights?

People
need to free their minds of racial prejudice and believe in equality for
all and freedom regardless of race. We need much more education  especially
those who are narrow-minded. We need as much financial security as we
can get. I think it would be a good thing if all people were treated equally
and justly and not be discriminated against because of race or religion
or anything that makes them different from others.

Do
you think the relationships between the different races are where they
should be today?

There
is still as much racism among some people. It still exists, but we are
not under the legally enforced segregation that we used to be. There are
still people who are prejudiced because of race. The Rosa and Raymond
Parks Institute accepts people of any race. We don't discriminate against
anyone. We teach people to reach their highest potential. I set examples
by the way I lead my life.

What
is your life like now? Are you still fighting for civil rights?

I
am still a supporter of civil and human rights. I attend programs and
I participate in the organization that I developed, the Rosa and Raymond
Parks Institute for Self-Development. Raymond Parks is my late husband.
He was interested in civil rights himself.

Are
there still people who treat you unfairly?

Yes.
In 1994 a man entered my home and beat and robbed me. I was badly hurt
and felt sad. It wasn't racial. He just broke into my house. He was on
drugs and alcohol. He was arrested and is serving a sentence. I was not
the only person he robbed and attacked. He robbed and mistreated older
people and women. I recovered from the attack and went on with what I
have to do.

Have
you ever faced something that you thought you couldn't stand up to?

I
can't think of anything. Usually, if I have to face something, I do so
no matter what the consequences might be. I never had any desire to give
up. I did not feel that giving up would be a way to become a free person.
That's the way I still feel. By standing up to something we still don't
always affect change right away. Even when we are brave and have courage,
change still doesn't come about for a long time.

Would
you have continued school if you didn't have to take care of your mom
and grandmom?

Yes.
My grandmother was ill and I had to stop school to look after her. After
she died my mother became ill and I did have to stay out of school. I
finished high school after I was married and living in the city.

Did
you ever see the Ku Klux Klan?

No,
I never saw the Klansmen. But I did know that they had gone through the
community and mistreated people and drove them from their homes. I saw
the results of what had happened. I do remember a young man who was found
lying dead in the woods and nobody saw who had done it.

How
did you feel when Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed?

It
was a very devastating feeling. I felt very badly that he had been assassinated.
I grieved very much about his death.

Our second grade classes
learned about you from the Scholastic Web site and by reading some biographies
as part of our "People Who Make a Difference" unit in social studies.
Students then wrote statements telling how they felt about you, and some
of their comments are posted below.